Author: the-shiv
Vietnam-US Trade Tracker [data set]
The United States is the biggest buyer of Vietnam’s exports and together the two countries engage in over US$100 billion worth of trade each year. This tracker looks at what is imported from the US and exported to the US from Vietnam using the most recent data available.
Proposal to increase foreign ownership limits in airlines in Vietnam rejected
The Vietnam airline industry has been struggling broadly as a result of government regulated ticket prices, increasing fuel costs, and a debt hangover from the COVID-19 pandemic when the industry more-or-less ground to a halt. Bamboo Airways, in particular, only took to the skies in 2019 the year before the pandemic broke out. It also started life as a subsidiary of FLC Group which has been heavily mired in controversy after its leader was arrested back in 2022. This saw the airline spun off but the new independent entity has never had much success and has repeatedly downsized its fleet and the number of routes it offers…
Increased dependence on thermal power spurs Vietnam coal imports increase in May
Of note, the price it is paying to its key suppliers has varied widely over the first five months of the year. Its most expensive coal imports have come from China averaging US$302 per ton versus its cheapest coal imports from Laos which have cost US$68 a ton by the same metric. On average, it has paid US$166 per ton…
Vietnam shares worth US$119.5 million to be liquidated in BlackRock ETF exit
This is in line with a broader exodus from Vietnam’s stock markets of foreign investors. Since the start of the year, just shy of US$1.58 billion has been withdrawn by non-Vietnamese investors for a number of reasons like exchange rate pressures, higher returns elsewhere, and general uncertainty with respect to the local economy…
Adidas, New Balance suppliers struggling to find workers in southern Vietnam
Some of the challenges raised in this article, with respect to hiring workers, is that workers have more job options other than factory work, workers no longer need to move to population centres with many manufacturing operations opening in tier two cities and provinces, and workers that moved back to their hometowns during the COVID-19 pandemic have still not returned on the back of the general uncertainty that the pandemic created.
Korea’s Daewoo looking at making cars in Vietnam
Vietnam’s automotive industry is huge but dominated by motorcycles. That said, cars are becoming more popular with just shy of 5 million registered vehicles at the end of 2020. This does, however, represent just 5 percent of the population of 100 million people which means there is plenty of room for car sales to grow…
Russian president could be in Vietnam next week: Reuters
Vietnam has remained cordially with Russia throughout the Ukraine War. The Southeast Asian nation is heavily dependent on Russia for its arms supplies but also has a strong bond with the country on account of their similar political pasts. This has seen Russian tourist arrivals grow by 80 percent in the first five months of this year over the first five months of 2023 and…
Vietnam solar production slows on end to antidumping moratorium
Of note, Trina Solar, in November of last year, announced it would almost doubled its investment in Vietnam bringing the total invested to nearly US$900 million. It also said, around the same time, that it believes its solar panels should be exempt from the US tariffs on the ground that its polysilicon comes from the US and Europe. With this in mind, it’s not clear what might happen to the additional investment Trina Solar announced last year…
Reports Vietnam will allow gold imports before the end of the year
If this is accurate, this would signal an interesting turn of events. To be clear, the State Bank took control over gold imports and exports to stabilise the local currency when inflation surged back in 2011. At the time, gold was being used as a store of wealth to hedge against inflation and banks were permitted to lend and borrow against the yellow metal which was pushing up demand (incidentally this practice was banned in 2012, too). This was increasing demand for US dollars to import more gold and subsequently putting inflationary pressure on the local currency…
Esports match fixing highlights breadth of corruption in sports in Vietnam
Professional sports leagues in Vietnam have struggled to develop on the back of limited investment and low pay for sports players that has resulted in players developing side hustles like match-fixing. More prominently, the Vietnamese Premier League was voted the third most corrupt league in the world back in 2016, and not much has been done to clean up Vietnamese soccer since–As recently as February, five players were charged for match fixing…
Tax from cross border service providers hits US$157.4 million in Vietnam so far this year
This is perhaps most interesting in the context of Vietnam’s Cybersecurity Law. Specifically, the law requires foreign firms to open a local office, which many of them have simply not done, hence, paying the aforementioned tax as a cross border service provider…
State Bank of Vietnam says there is no shortage of gold
This comes in the context of a rush to buy gold in Vietnam after the State Bank announced it would start selling gold from its reserves at well-below market prices to try and close the gap between local and world gold prices. Previously, the State Bank had tried to auction off its gold to several gold companies and financial institutions but the price was set relatively high and interest from these institutions was lacklustre at best…
Several Starbucks have gone cashless in Vietnam
In terms of reducing the security risks associated with handling cash, this move by these Starbucks stores makes sense. As far as speed and convenience go, however, it’s not clear that this has been achieved. Of note, QR code transfers can sometimes take some time with multiple steps involved–logging to a bank account, scanning the code, approving the purchase etcetera.
Securities accounts in Vietnam reach almost 8 million but quality questionable
Of note, this is the total volume of accounts and Vietnamese investors can open accounts at more than one brokerage. With this in mind, in September. MB Securities closed the inactive accounts it had on file totalling 543,753 accounts. This was just one securities firm…
Vietnam’s zero-VND feed-in-tariffs plan for rooftop solar dumped
The plan was issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and was designed to tackle the issue of over production that surfaced in Central Vietnam several years ago. Said over production, however, was more the result of projects being approved outside of the plans and policies that were in place for solar power development. Specifically, the Government Inspectorate found that the Power Development Plan 7 had set out to see 850 MW of solar power by 2020, however, a total of 168 solar projects with a total capacity of 14,707 MW were approved in that time…
Vietnam records win for R&D with new Motorola facility in HCMC
Back in 2019, Vietnam issued Decree 13/2019/ND-CP, which was designed to drive investment in research and development. To do this, it offered tax breaks, preferential loans, and reductions in land and water fees.
Vietnam e-commerce traders struggle to profit on Amazon: state media
A recurring theme in the local media has been the challenges local firms face accessing markets overseas. More free trade agreements should, and does, mean greater market access in other parts of the world, however, in most developed markets quality requirements are much higher than they are in Vietnam. Whereas this does incentivise local producers to improve the quality of their products, improving the quality of their products comes at a financial cost…
Vietnam’s corporate bond issuances in 2024 well down on 2023
Of note, bond market reforms issued at the end of 2022 resulted in the bond market freezing up with issuances reduced to a trickle. These reforms were then put on hold in March of 2023 and the bond market bounced back. They did, however, come to an end at the end of the year and subsequently a renewed fall in bond issuances is playing out…
Vietnam coal emissions jump on reduced hydropower supply
Vietnam committed to being net-zero by 2050 at the 26th Conference of Parties, however, there have been a number of roadblocks. A Just Energy Transition Partnership agreement, for example, signed back in 2022, was touted as the foundation for a move to greener power generation. Leaked British diplomatic cables, however, suggest there is little confidence among the JETP partners…
Swiss high-end watchmaker opens outlet in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City
The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals–persons with a net worth greater than US$30 million–has grown exponentially in recent years. According to Frank Knight’s Wealth Report 2024 estimates, Vietnam had 752 of these uber-rich at the end of 2023 and that number is expected to grow to 978 by 2028…
In today’s Vietnam news: Dragon Capital Europe ETF, Carbon market opens, New regulations communicating with press , Copyright commercial-use fee confusion, Vingroup reduces holdings
In today’s Vietnam news: Ethical / cultural business standards framework, Floating solar project, Embattled construction firm investment spinoff, Raising public debt ceiling, Selling excess
In today’s Vietnam news: GS TL on AI, Saigon Economic Times last issue, Fuel prices cut, Vinhomes issuing more bonds, Counterfeit Korean cosmetics store,
This is an interview with Chris Walker, a Vietnam Sourcing Expert with Vietnam Factory Tours how rising oil prices and the Middle East crisis are
This is an interview with John Gardner, CEO and Founding Partner, at Optimum Hospitality in Ho Chi Minh City. It covers fuel price impacts on:
This is an interview with Dr Nuno F. Ribeiro, Associate Professor, International Tourism & Hospitality Management at Copenhagen Business College, formerly of RMIT Vietnam. It